AVALON – Avalon is making final preparations for what is expected to be the biggest celebration of America’s birthday at the Jersey Shore. The world-renowned Bay-Atlantic Symphony will be presenting a festive concert on Sunday, July 3rd,
at 7:00 p.m., inside the Avalon Community Hall, 30th Street and the beach. After the concert, Avalon will present one of
the biggest fireworks displays in the state of New Jersey at approximately 9:00 p.m. The concert and fireworks are free
and open to the public.
“This Independence Day weekend in Avalon will truly be a celebration of America,” said Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi. “We are honored to have the Bay-Atlantic Symphony call Avalon its summer home, and the Borough is excited to present
an evening filled with outstanding music and family activities.”
The Bay-Atlantic Symphony will begin its fifth summer of Avalon performances on July 3rd with a presentation entitled “A New Birth of Freedom.” Conducted by Music Director Jed Gaylin, the concert will be an all-American patriotic celebration
of our country. Major General John Stoner, United States Army (retired), will be the guest conductor for a rendition of
Stars and Stripes Forever, while Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi will appear as a guest narrator.
The program will include The Star Spangled Banner, Richard Rodgers’ “Oklahoma” Medley, Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” Medley, and Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait (with Mayor Pagliughi as narrator)—as well as John Philip Sousa’s Washington Post March and Stars and Stripes Forever, and the Bay-Atlantic Symphony’s roaring rendition of
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
The July 3rd concert, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Borough of Avalon, the Avalon Department of Recreation, and Sturdy Savings Bank. Seating will be done on a first come, first served basis. Patriotic music that accompanies the fireworks display will be simulcast on radio station WCZT 98.7, the Coast.
Avalon will welcome the Bay-Atlantic Symphony for two additional concerts presented by the Avalon Free Public Library. On Saturday, July 16th, the symphony presents “Over Here, Over There.” On Saturday, August 27th, the Symphony presents “Sun, Splash, and Waves” featuring the world-renowned violinist Kai Gleusteen as guest soloist. These performances will be held inside the Avalon Elementary School, 235 32nd St., at 7:00 p.m. both evenings.
The July 3rd performance by the Bay-Atlantic Symphony and fireworks display culminates the “Avalon Family Fun Festival” which takes place from June 30th to July 4th. The festival begins with an Avalon String Band Mummers parade and concert on June 30th at 6:00 p.m. The festival also includes a triathlon, concerts on the beach, and a special boat parade on July 4th.
Jed Gaylin, entering his 15th season as Music Director of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, is also the Principal Conductor of the Cape May Music Festival. He has been the Music Director of the Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra since 1993 and, since 2007, the Principal Guest Conductor of the National Film and Radio Philharmonic in Beijing, China.
A sought-after guest conductor, he has led orchestras including the Sibiu Philharmonic of Romania—where he served as Principal Guest Conductor, Shanghai (China) Conservatory Orchestra, Bucharest (Romania) Radio Orchestra, Academia del Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona, Spain), Lodz and Pomorska (Poland) Philharmonics, Gnessin Institute Orchestra and Moscow (Russia) Chamber Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Guanajuato (Mexico), Orvieto (Italy) Festival Orchestra, and the Naples (Florida) Philharmonic. He also maintains a close association with Baltimore’s Opera Vivente and Johns Hopkins University, where he has served as Music Director of the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra since 1993.
The Symphony’s first commercial label recording, of She Comes to Shore–concerto for improvised piano and orchestra by the contemporary Hong Kong-born, Canadian-based composer and pianist Lee Pui Ming, was recorded last August and is available on the Innova label, distributed by Naxos.
The Symphony will open its 2011-12 season with “I Hear a Symphony—A Celebration of the Music of Motown”—a gala symphonic tribute to the singers and groups that created the Motown Sound—on Sunday, September 25, at 3 p.m., at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, in Atlantic City.
For more information on the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, please call their office at (856) 451-1169, visit the Symphony’s website at www.bayatlanticsymphony.org, or visit them on Facebook. For additional details about the Avalon Family Fun Festival, visit Avalon’s official website, www.avalonboro.org.
Upper Township – Again, kids drinking and being loud half the night near a local business. No matter how often authorities are called they say call the owner. Management does nothing except say; they do what they are…
